First Game of Season at Arizona Recap
by Lindsay Albanesi, '03
The CSU Men's Lacrosse team traveled to Tucson, AZ this weekend to begin the spring season against the University of Arizona at Laxcat Coliseum. The Rams were a bit rusty going into Arizona with very little practice, thanks to the Colorado weather keeping them off the field.
Both teams played well and it was evident that neither team wanted to lose, but the Rams prevailed in the tough, but well-deserved 6-5 victory. The Rams remain undefeated in the 2002-2003 season!
The team is coming off of an undefeated fall season and the 2003 RMILL (Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Lacrosse League) Preseason Poll has named the Rams in 2nd place behind BYU, who are expected to win the title this year. The Rams have a demanding spring schedule that includes trips to Arizona (Univ. of Arizona), Florida (Virginia Tech, Florida, Florida State and Auburn) and Utah (BYU, Utah Valley and Utah). The Rams will also host Illinois, Colorado, Oregon and Michigan, which is the most non-conference teams ever to come to the Fort.
The field at Laxcat was like an swampland from all of the rain they had received in Arizona in the past week, but the surface dried up a bit as the game went on. Bo Everett started the Rams off about five minutes into the game with a great fast break goal and then caught a great pass for a dunk from Tim Farquhar to get the Rams up 2-0. Arizona began to claw their way back and tied it at 3, but kept costing their team with penalties. The Rams became friends with the posts and were unable to pull away with a big lead. The Rams got two more goals from senior captain Kale Nelson before the half to give the Rams a 5-3 lead. The Rams would only get one more goal in the game (Bo Everett's third), but it was just enough to edge out Arizona for the 6-5 victory.
Goalie Alex Smith had 12 saves and made some great stops in last minutes of the game to hold onto the win. He commented on his team's performance, "We played well, but we need some improvements in some places. As far as the saves, that is my job, so I did it and now we have to focus on CU next weekend."
Senior captain Kale Nelson commented on the trip to Arizona, "It was good to get the kinks out after hardly in practice in two weeks. It was a good trip for the team. We should have won by 8, not one - we were rusty, but solid."
The Rams lost four star players to graduation last year who combined for 220 points. It will be hard to replace these guys, but they have some players to step in and step up the tempo. All-Americans Mark Plonkey and Jeff Schmid will join sophomore Ryan Price and Ryan Robichaud, an All-American in 2001, to help form one of the most experienced groups of long sticks in the country. Colorado State has also traditionally fielded one of the strongest attack units in the country.
Last season, the men's lacrosse team made it to the National Championship game against Sonoma State, who barely beat them. The Rams are thirsty to return to the National Championship this year in St. Louis and they are off to a great start.
The Rams come home and host their archrivals from the University of Colorado for the spring season home opener this Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at the intramural fields. Coach Flip Naumburg is looking forward to the big rival game: "It is a great rivalry that is very intense and fun, especially since they always want to beat us."
For more information, please contact Alex Smith at (970) 224-9274 or visit www.csulacrosse.com.
STATS:
Box Score:
| |
1st Qtr. |
2nd Qtr. |
3rd Qtr. |
4th Qtr. |
Final |
| CSU |
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
| Arizona |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
Goals:
CSU: Bo Everett (3), Kale Nelson (2), Derek Koll (1)
Arizona: N/A
Assists:
CSU: Tim Farquhar, Kelton Johnson, Matt Disney
Arizona: N/A
Goaltenders:
CSU: Alex Smith (60:00 minutes, 12 saves, 5 goals against)
Arizona: Sean Koffel (60:00 minutes, 14 saves, 6 goals against)
Penalties:
CSU: 3
Arizona: 8
Man Up:
CSU: 2/8
Arizona: 1/3
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